Signature verification
Verify the X-Certivant-Signature-V2 header (HMAC-SHA256 over timestamp.body, 300 s tolerance) so you trust webhook payloads. Includes Node, Python, Go, Ruby, PHP examples.
Every webhook Certivant sends includes a signature header. Verify it before doing anything with the payload — otherwise a stranger who guesses your webhook URL can fire fake events at you, and your application will believe them.
What you're verifying
Every delivery carries a V2 signature in one self-contained header:
X-Certivant-Signature-V2: t=1735689600,v1=8a2b4c...e91f
tis the Unix time (seconds) at which Certivant signed the event.v1ishex( HMAC-SHA256( secret, "${t}.${rawBody}" ) ), wheresecretis yourwhsec_…signing secret andrawBodyis the exact bytes of the request body.- During a secret rotation the header can carry several
v1=values (t=…,v1=…,v1=…). Accept the event if any of them matches.
Your job is to recompute the HMAC over t + "." + rawBody with your copy of the secret, compare it to each v1 with a constant-time comparison, and reject the event when |now - t| > 300 seconds. If a signature matches AND the timestamp is inside the tolerance window, the payload is authentic and fresh.
300-second tolerance
Reject any event whose t is more than 300 seconds (5 minutes) away from your own clock, in either direction. Keep your servers on NTP. The timestamp is part of the signed message, so an attacker cannot change it without invalidating the signature — this is what makes a captured request useless for replay after the window closes.
Headers on every webhook
| Header | Value | Use |
|---|---|---|
Content-Type | application/json | |
X-Certivant-Signature-V2 | t=<unix>,v1=<64-hex>[,v1=<64-hex>] | Verify this. HMAC over ${t}.${rawBody} |
X-Certivant-Timestamp | Unix seconds | Same value as t, for logging |
X-Certivant-Event-Id | Unique id | Unique per event, stable across retries. Use for idempotency |
X-KYC-Signature | sha256=<64-hex> | Same HMAC over ${X-KYC-Timestamp}.${rawBody}. Existing integrations; still sent |
X-KYC-Timestamp, X-KYC-Event-Id | Unix seconds / id | Same values as the X-Certivant-* headers |
Events sent before you have configured a secret carry the id/timestamp headers but no signature.
The body-only legacy signature has been removed
Before May 2026 the signature covered only rawBody. That body-only X-KYC-Signature-Legacy header, announced as deprecated for 2026-09-01, is no longer sent (removed on 24 October 2026), and neither is X-KYC-Signature-Deprecation. If your receiver still checks it, every event now fails verification: switch to X-Certivant-Signature-V2 (or the timestamped X-KYC-Signature) using the recipe below.
The verification recipe
function verify(rawBody, signatureV2Header, secrets):
parts = split(signatureV2Header, ",")
t = value of the part "t=..."
sigs = values of every part "v1=..."
if t is missing or sigs is empty: return false
if abs(now() - int(t)) > 300: return false # replay protection
signed = t + "." + rawBody
for secret in secrets: # >1 only while rotating
expected = hex(hmac_sha256(secret, signed))
for sig in sigs:
if constant_time_equal(expected, sig): return true
return false
Three non-negotiable rules:
- Bind the timestamp into the signed message, not just the body. Without this, an attacker who captures one valid webhook can replay it forever.
- Read the raw body — never the re-serialised parsed object. Order of keys, whitespace, and number formatting all change the hash.
- Compare with a constant-time function (
timingSafeEqual,hmac.compare_digest,hash_equals,hmac.Equal, …), never==.
Test your verifier without writing any code: the dashboard's Send a test event button (KYC → Developer → Webhook events) delivers a real, signed kyc.webhook.test ping or a sample kyc.request.* payload (both carry "test": true) to your configured URL.
Implementations
import crypto from "node:crypto";
const TOLERANCE_SECONDS = 300; // reject events more than 5 minutes off
/**
* Verify an X-Certivant-Signature-V2 header ("t=<unix>,v1=<hex>[,v1=<hex>]").
* `secrets` may hold two values while you rotate (old + new).
*/
export function verifyCertivantSignature(
rawBody: string,
signatureHeader: string | undefined | null,
secrets: string | string[],
toleranceSeconds = TOLERANCE_SECONDS,
): boolean {
if (!signatureHeader) return false;
// 1. Parse "t=...,v1=...,v1=..."
let t = "";
const candidates: string[] = [];
for (const part of signatureHeader.split(",")) {
const i = part.indexOf("=");
if (i < 0) continue;
const key = part.slice(0, i).trim();
const value = part.slice(i + 1).trim();
if (key === "t") t = value;
else if (key === "v1") candidates.push(value);
}
if (!/^\d+$/.test(t) || candidates.length === 0) return false;
// 2. Reject stale / future-dated events (replay protection)
if (Math.abs(Date.now() / 1000 - Number(t)) > toleranceSeconds) return false;
// 3. Recompute HMAC over `${t}.${rawBody}` — the timestamp is part of the
// signed message — and compare in constant time against every v1.
for (const secret of Array.isArray(secrets) ? secrets : [secrets]) {
const expected = crypto
.createHmac("sha256", secret)
.update(`${t}.${rawBody}`)
.digest("hex");
for (const candidate of candidates) {
const a = Buffer.from(expected);
const b = Buffer.from(candidate);
if (a.length === b.length && crypto.timingSafeEqual(a, b)) return true;
}
}
return false;
}
// Hono usage
app.post("/webhooks/certivant", async (c) => {
const rawBody = await c.req.text(); // <-- raw, not c.req.json()
const sig = c.req.header("X-Certivant-Signature-V2");
if (!verifyCertivantSignature(rawBody, sig, process.env.CERTIVANT_WEBHOOK_SECRET!)) {
return c.json({ error: "Invalid signature" }, 401);
}
const payload = JSON.parse(rawBody);
// De-duplicate on c.req.header("X-Certivant-Event-Id"), then handle payload
return c.json({ received: true });
});
// Express usage — needs express.raw() to keep the raw body
import express from "express";
const app = express();
app.post(
"/webhooks/certivant",
express.raw({ type: "application/json" }),
(req, res) => {
const rawBody = req.body.toString(); // Buffer -> string
const sig = req.header("X-Certivant-Signature-V2");
if (!verifyCertivantSignature(rawBody, sig, process.env.CERTIVANT_WEBHOOK_SECRET!)) {
return res.status(401).json({ error: "Invalid signature" });
}
const payload = JSON.parse(rawBody);
res.json({ received: true });
},
);
import hashlib
import hmac
import re
import time
TOLERANCE_SECONDS = 300 # reject events more than 5 minutes off
def verify_certivant_signature(
raw_body: bytes,
signature_header: str | None,
secrets: str | list[str],
tolerance_seconds: int = TOLERANCE_SECONDS,
) -> bool:
"""Verify X-Certivant-Signature-V2 ("t=<unix>,v1=<hex>[,v1=<hex>]").
`secrets` may hold two values while you rotate (old + new)."""
if not signature_header:
return False
# 1. Parse "t=...,v1=...,v1=..."
t = ""
candidates: list[str] = []
for part in signature_header.split(","):
key, sep, value = part.partition("=")
if not sep:
continue
key, value = key.strip(), value.strip()
if key == "t":
t = value
elif key == "v1":
candidates.append(value)
if not re.fullmatch(r"\d+", t) or not candidates:
return False
# 2. Reject stale / future-dated events (replay protection)
if abs(time.time() - int(t)) > tolerance_seconds:
return False
# 3. Recompute HMAC over `${t}.${rawBody}`. We feed bytes so the body
# is never accidentally re-encoded; compare in constant time.
signed = t.encode("ascii") + b"." + raw_body
for secret in [secrets] if isinstance(secrets, str) else secrets:
expected = hmac.new(secret.encode("utf-8"), signed, hashlib.sha256).hexdigest()
if any(hmac.compare_digest(expected, c) for c in candidates):
return True
return False
# FastAPI
from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException, Request
import os
app = FastAPI()
@app.post("/webhooks/certivant")
async def handle(request: Request):
raw_body = await request.body() # bytes, untouched
sig = request.headers.get("x-certivant-signature-v2")
if not verify_certivant_signature(raw_body, sig, os.environ["CERTIVANT_WEBHOOK_SECRET"]):
raise HTTPException(status_code=401, detail="Invalid signature")
payload = await request.json()
return {"received": True}
# Flask
from flask import Flask, abort, request
app = Flask(__name__)
@app.post("/webhooks/certivant")
def handle():
raw_body = request.get_data()
sig = request.headers.get("X-Certivant-Signature-V2")
if not verify_certivant_signature(raw_body, sig, os.environ["CERTIVANT_WEBHOOK_SECRET"]):
abort(401)
payload = request.get_json()
return {"received": True}
package webhook
import (
"crypto/hmac"
"crypto/sha256"
"encoding/hex"
"io"
"math"
"net/http"
"os"
"strconv"
"strings"
"time"
)
const toleranceSeconds = 300
// Verifies X-Certivant-Signature-V2 ("t=<unix>,v1=<hex>[,v1=<hex>]").
// Pass two secrets while rotating (old + new).
func verifyCertivantSignature(rawBody []byte, header string, secrets ...string) bool {
var t string
var candidates []string
for _, part := range strings.Split(header, ",") {
kv := strings.SplitN(strings.TrimSpace(part), "=", 2)
if len(kv) != 2 {
continue
}
switch kv[0] {
case "t":
t = kv[1]
case "v1":
candidates = append(candidates, kv[1])
}
}
ts, err := strconv.ParseInt(t, 10, 64)
if err != nil || len(candidates) == 0 {
return false
}
if math.Abs(float64(time.Now().Unix()-ts)) > toleranceSeconds {
return false // replay protection
}
for _, secret := range secrets {
mac := hmac.New(sha256.New, []byte(secret))
mac.Write([]byte(t + "."))
mac.Write(rawBody)
expected := hex.EncodeToString(mac.Sum(nil))
for _, c := range candidates {
if hmac.Equal([]byte(expected), []byte(c)) {
return true
}
}
}
return false
}
func Handler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
rawBody, err := io.ReadAll(r.Body)
if err != nil {
http.Error(w, "read body", http.StatusBadRequest)
return
}
sig := r.Header.Get("X-Certivant-Signature-V2")
if !verifyCertivantSignature(rawBody, sig, os.Getenv("CERTIVANT_WEBHOOK_SECRET")) {
http.Error(w, "invalid signature", http.StatusUnauthorized)
return
}
// unmarshal rawBody into your struct and handle...
w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
}
require "openssl"
TOLERANCE_SECONDS = 300
# Verifies X-Certivant-Signature-V2 ("t=<unix>,v1=<hex>[,v1=<hex>]").
# `secrets` may hold two values while you rotate (old + new).
def verify_certivant_signature(raw_body, signature_header, secrets)
return false if signature_header.nil? || signature_header.empty?
parts = signature_header.split(",").map { |p| p.strip.split("=", 2) }
t = parts.find { |k, _| k == "t" }&.last.to_s
candidates = parts.select { |k, _| k == "v1" }.map(&:last)
return false unless t.match?(/\A\d+\z/) && !candidates.empty?
return false if (Time.now.to_i - t.to_i).abs > TOLERANCE_SECONDS # replay protection
Array(secrets).any? do |secret|
expected = OpenSSL::HMAC.hexdigest("SHA256", secret, "#{t}.#{raw_body}")
candidates.any? { |c| Rack::Utils.secure_compare(expected, c) }
end
end
# Rails
class WebhooksController < ApplicationController
skip_before_action :verify_authenticity_token, only: [:certivant]
def certivant
raw_body = request.raw_post
sig = request.headers["X-Certivant-Signature-V2"]
unless verify_certivant_signature(raw_body, sig, ENV["CERTIVANT_WEBHOOK_SECRET"])
head :unauthorized and return
end
payload = JSON.parse(raw_body)
# ... handle
render json: { received: true }
end
end
<?php
const CERTIVANT_TOLERANCE_SECONDS = 300;
// Verifies X-Certivant-Signature-V2 ("t=<unix>,v1=<hex>[,v1=<hex>]").
// $secrets may hold two values while you rotate (old + new).
function verify_certivant_signature(string $rawBody, ?string $signatureHeader, string|array $secrets): bool {
if ($signatureHeader === null || $signatureHeader === "") return false;
$t = "";
$candidates = [];
foreach (explode(",", $signatureHeader) as $part) {
$kv = explode("=", trim($part), 2);
if (count($kv) !== 2) continue;
if ($kv[0] === "t") $t = $kv[1];
elseif ($kv[0] === "v1") $candidates[] = $kv[1];
}
if (!ctype_digit($t) || count($candidates) === 0) return false;
if (abs(time() - (int) $t) > CERTIVANT_TOLERANCE_SECONDS) return false; // replay protection
foreach ((array) $secrets as $secret) {
$expected = hash_hmac("sha256", $t . "." . $rawBody, $secret);
foreach ($candidates as $candidate) {
if (hash_equals($expected, $candidate)) return true;
}
}
return false;
}
// Plain PHP
$rawBody = file_get_contents("php://input");
$sig = $_SERVER["HTTP_X_CERTIVANT_SIGNATURE_V2"] ?? null;
if (!verify_certivant_signature($rawBody, $sig, getenv("CERTIVANT_WEBHOOK_SECRET"))) {
http_response_code(401);
echo json_encode(["error" => "Invalid signature"]);
exit;
}
$payload = json_decode($rawBody, true);
// ... handle
echo json_encode(["received" => true]);
// Laravel
public function certivant(\Illuminate\Http\Request $request) {
$rawBody = $request->getContent();
$sig = $request->header("X-Certivant-Signature-V2");
if (!verify_certivant_signature($rawBody, $sig, env("CERTIVANT_WEBHOOK_SECRET"))) {
abort(401);
}
$payload = json_decode($rawBody, true);
return response()->json(["received" => true]);
}
Common pitfalls
"The signatures don't match in production but did in test"
Your framework is parsing or modifying the body before you compute the HMAC. The most common culprit is body-parser middleware in Node (Express's express.json() mutates req.body; you must use express.raw() for the webhook route specifically). In Next.js API routes, set runtime: "nodejs" and read await req.text() first.
"Signatures match locally but fail when sent through a load balancer"
Some load balancers (or WAFs) rewrite request bodies — pretty-printing, stripping trailing newlines, or transcoding charsets. Disable any body-rewriting feature on the path to your webhook.
Using == instead of constant-time comparison
// ❌ Don't do this
return expected === candidate;
// ✅ Do this (after checking the lengths are equal)
return crypto.timingSafeEqual(Buffer.from(expected), Buffer.from(candidate));
Plain string comparison short-circuits on the first mismatching byte. An attacker timing thousands of requests can recover the secret byte-by-byte. All HMAC libraries ship a constant-time equality helper — use it.
Replaying old events
Verification only checks authenticity, not freshness. If you log webhooks and someone steals an old payload + signature, they can replay it. Defences:
- Track
X-Certivant-Event-Idand reject duplicates — see Idempotency in Events. - Reject events whose
tis more than 300 seconds off your clock (the verifiers above do this).
Rotating your secret
The dashboard's Rotate secret makes the old secret invalid immediately for new deliveries. If you want zero downtime on your side, deploy a verifier that accepts both secrets (the secrets argument above takes a list), rotate, then drop the old one once no more in-flight retries carry it.
Testing your verifier without Certivant
Compute a V2 signature yourself and POST it to your endpoint:
SECRET=whsec_test
BODY='{"event":"kyc.request.approved","requestId":"req_test"}'
T=$(date +%s)
SIG=$(printf '%s.%s' "$T" "$BODY" | openssl dgst -sha256 -hmac "$SECRET" -hex | awk '{print $NF}')
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/webhooks/certivant \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "X-Certivant-Signature-V2: t=$T,v1=$SIG" \
-d "$BODY"
If your handler responds 200, verification works. Mutate the secret or body by one character, or send a t older than 5 minutes, and confirm it returns 401.
Webhooks setup
Step-by-step guide to registering a Certivant webhook endpoint, storing the signing secret, sending a test event, rotating secrets, and configuring per-form overrides.
Webhook events
Complete reference for every Certivant webhook event type — envelope schema, per-event payload shapes, idempotency pattern, and ordering rules.